


Never Played It Cool

by Lavellington



Series: I Always End Up Where I Need to Be [3]
Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Farah POV, Farah has a crush on Amanda, I would lay down my life for these two wonderful women, and she's in for a pleasant surprise, but that's unlikely to come up, faranda, so I've written them making out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 09:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10533762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavellington/pseuds/Lavellington
Summary: "Dude," Amanda says, squeezing her tight while her hair tickles Farah's face. "It's so good to see you.""You too," Farah says, meaning it, and when they break apart Amanda's hands linger on her shoulders for a second longer than they have to, and that's nice. That's enough to feed her borderline pathetic crush for a week, at least.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Faranda week! I've been too busy with my Brotzly WIP to write any Faranda yet, which is a disgrace, because I ship it like holy heck. So here's some short and sweet making out in a kitchen. I hope you all enjoy.
> 
> Mentions of chronic illness (Amanda's pararibulitis) and use of the word "crazy" though not as a slur.
> 
> This is written as a missing Faranda scene from Todd's birthday in Electric Ghost Rhino (the first fic in this series), but you don't need to have read that to understand this.

They meet each other around the corner from the Ridgely, Amanda hopping out of the van and waving goodbye to the Rowdy 3, whom Dirk had very pointedly _not_ invited. Farah leans against the brick wall, her arms folded and her heart beating uncomfortably as she tries to figure out what to say. She's relieved when Amanda hugs her, taking the greeting out of her hands.

"Dude," Amanda says, squeezing her tight while her hair tickles Farah's face. "It's so good to see you."

"You too," Farah says, meaning it, and when they break apart Amanda's hands linger on her shoulders for a second longer than they have to, and that's nice. That's enough to feed her borderline pathetic crush for a week, at least.

It's a surprise party, of _course_ , so they hang around a few minutes waiting for Todd to leave; Dirk has assured them that he's concocted a genius plan to get him out of the apartment.

"I hope he doesn't set the place on fire," Farah says. "I really, seriously, hope that."

"I don't know," Amanda says, grinning. "Might be kinda funny."

Farah snorts and leans back against the wall. Amanda stands next to her and smokes in her leather jacket, looking achingly cool and like every one of Farah's lurid teen fantasies, until Dirk texts them the all-clear and they go up.

Farah had her misgivings when Dirk texted to invite her to a surprise party, but the discomfort she's waiting for never really manifests. It's surprisingly good to see Dirk and Todd again, and Amanda...well, she's not surprised how good it is to see Amanda. They exchange significant looks at Todd's expression of slack surprise when Dirk gives him his present, and the _very_ long hug that follows. Farah stifles a smile, and then remembers she doesn't have to, and grins at Amanda, who coughs pointedly until Dirk and Todd remember there are other people in the apartment. There's pizza, and beer, and her cake is a hit. She realises, halfway through the evening, that she's having what could legitimately be called a pretty good time. She's not sure what to do with that.

She sits next to Dirk on the couch and watches Todd and Amanda sitting on the bed, and thinks that she never would have picked any of these people out of a lineup as her future friends. Then again, she just compared making friends to identifying criminals, so what does she know?

"Hey," she says to Dirk, when Todd and Amanda get caught up in one of those sibling squabbles that no outsider should go anywhere _near_ , "thanks for organising this, Dirk. You're a good friend."

Dirk looks at her in naked surprise, his mouth parting slightly as if she just told him he's won the lottery, and then he turns pink and smiles widely at her. Farah feels a sudden burst of affection for him.

"Thank you, Farah! That is, you're welcome. And thank you for coming. It's very good to see you."

It should sound like a meaningless pleasantry, but it doesn't. Farah lets herself accept it at face value, and not worry for once about whether she's the spectre at the feast. In some strange way, she does fit here.

"It's good to see you too," she says, and it's different than when she said it to Amanda, but she means it this time too. Dirk smiles again.

 

*

 

Todd has just finished very dramatically telling them the story–for the second time that evening–of how Dirk broke the toaster, when Farah decides she needs another beer. Todd is playing something old and familiar on his guitar as she takes the bottle out of the fridge, and she leans against the counter, takes a slow drink, and listens.

Amanda wanders in after a moment and smiles at her, hoisting herself up to sit on the counter opposite and swinging her legs so that her socked feet thump against the cabinet, like a little kid.

"Having a good time?" she asks, and if she'd had one beer more or one less, Farah might get defensive, might hear imaginary judgement in Amanda's tone. As it is she just tips her head to the side and says,

"You know what? I really am."

Amanda laughs.

"No need to sound so surprised, dude. We might not be as cool as all your badass bodyguard friends–"

"Oh, you're definitely cooler than any of my other friends," Farah says, picking at the label on her beer bottle. Amanda looks surprised for a second before she recovers and says,

"We are? Even Dirk?"

"Well," Farah concedes, "I maybe wouldn't use the word _cool_ to describe Dirk. Or Todd, for that matter. But they're definitely...something."

"So you're saying you think _I'm_ cool. That's. Basically what you just said." Amanda looks mischievous, hands resting on the edge of the counter as she leans forward, just an arm's length away across the tiny kitchen. Farah takes another swig of beer in lieu of answering. Amanda leans back and grins like she's enjoying Farah's discomfort, and Farah is surprised to find she doesn't mind at all. She's being _teased_ , not mocked, and it's a novel sensation.

"So, what's it like, being rich and unemployed?" Amanda asks.

"It's...interesting," Farah says, before realising that this is Amanda, and she doesn't really need to give diplomatic non-answers. She thinks for a moment. "It's a little disconcerting sometimes. Less _structured_ than I'm used to. But good. At least for now. What's it like riding around with a bunch of psychic punks in an old van?"

"Same answer."

Farah laughs and Amanda flashes her a grin.

"Were you a big fan of structure before?"

"Not really," Amanda says. "but I didn't have a choice in the matter. When you have a chronic illness and can't leave the house, you tell yourself that eight hours sleep and three square meals a day will make the difference." She pauses, worrying at a chip on the edge of Todd's counter with her thumbnail. "It never did, but at least it stopped me going totally crazy. Reminded me I was a person. That I was alive, even if I wasn't really living all that much. Does that make sense?"

She looks up at Farah, and Farah blinks, opens her mouth, and can't think of a thing to say. She notices dimly that the guitar has stopped, and Dirk and Todd are talking quietly on the couch. Amanda smiles at her, in that sweet way she has, and Farah spends a full ten seconds fixated on her dimples before she clears her throat and says,

"I think you're the most alive person I've ever met."

This seems to catch her off guard, and Farah watches in fascination as her nonverbal blinking of a few seconds before is played back at her in reverse.

Then Amanda bites her bottom lip and very obviously looks at Farah's mouth, and okay, okay, that's...new. That's a lot. Farah stands perfectly still, afraid to tip the moment in either direction, and then Amanda holds out her hand, and Farah sets down her drink and takes it.

Amanda pulls her in so that Farah is standing between her legs, cups her hands on either side of Farah's neck, and just _kisses_ her, just like that. She feels a thrill like an electric shock go through her, and then something else takes over, something which lets her brain go blessedly silent for a few seconds. She doesn't realise that she's put her hands on Amanda's thighs until Amanda makes a choked noise and uses her legs to pull her in tighter, and suddenly she couldn't stop kissing her if her life depended on it. Amanda's socked foot moving up and down the back of her thigh seems bizarrely like the most erotic thing that's ever happened to her. She moves her hands to Amanda's hips, and daringly lets one hand inch under the fabric of her shirt, sliding around to the smooth skin of her lower back. She feels Amanda smile against her mouth.

They're still kissing slowly, sweetly, but Farah can feel that they're near a tipping point. Amanda's lips clinging to hers makes her ache, makes her shiver, and she feels a throbbing between her legs that reminds her of how very long it's been since she's been in a position like this. She sighs as Amanda's hand trails down her neck, coming to rest inside the V of her shirt, over her heart. They're still for a moment, breathing into each other's mouths, and then she touches the tip of her tongue to Amanda's lips, and Amanda opens and lets her in and that's it, she's gone. They're kissing frantically, Farah clutching Amanda's hips while Amanda winds her limbs around her and pulls her impossibly close. Farah's mind is a blinking cursor, a fuzz of static, and she never wants this to stop.

She breaks away to kiss Amanda's neck, drinking in her gasps and the sweet little noises she makes. She's thinking dimly that they should find a bed or a vaguely bedlike surface when she suddenly remembers with a jolt that they're standing in _Todd's kitchen_ and that Todd and Dirk are in the next room. She pulls back, but doesn't go far. Amanda makes a discontented noise and tries to chase her mouth, but Farah stops her and says breathlessly,

"Amanda, your brother–we're in your brother's kitchen. We can't–"

"He's asleep," Amanda says, her fingers hovering over the top button of Farah's shirt in a highly distracting way.

"How do you know?" Farah whispers.

Amanda sighs, raises her voice slightly, and says in the direction of the living room, "Pixies suck."

There's no response.

"See," she says, "nothing. But I take your point. Maybe we should go."

She looks at Farah expectantly. Her lips are red and shiny, and Farah's brain definitely hasn't quite rebooted yet, because she has no idea what she's supposed to say right now.

"Um," she tries. Amanda rolls her eyes.

"Aren't you going to invite me back to your place?" she asks. "I'd take the initiative here, but I currently live in a van."

"Oh, right," Farah says, smiling and ducking her head. She's sure she'll find plenty of reasons to freak out about this in the morning, but right now the thought of going home without Amanda seems ridiculous and maybe even impossible. She takes a breath and looks into Amanda's eyes. "Amanda, do you want to come back to my place?"

"Hell yes, I do," Amanda breathes, and kisses her again so perfectly that Farah completely forgets, once again, that she's in Todd Brotzman's kitchen.

"Just so you know," she says, when she pulls back, "I do."

Amanda blinks, focusing on her face. "You do what?"

"Think you're cool," Farah murmurs, touching her thumb to Amanda's bottom lip.

Amanda's face lights up.

"Dude," she says, "I've been failing at playing it cool since the day I met you."

Farah laughs, the sound coming surprisingly easy, and says, "Fine, I guess I'll be the cool one."

 

*

 


End file.
